Cyclone Yasi’s $1bn king-hit

North Queensland residents avoided the worst of the deadly impact of cyclone Yasi when it crossed the coast early yesterday, but the category five cyclone left a $1 billion damage bill for the state’s ­agricultural industries.

Sugar and banana crops, which were virtually wiped out after cyclone Larry in 2006, have been hit again, which will result in higher prices in shops across the country and affect key export markets.

While the region’s 350,000 residents were spared fatalities or serious injuries, the cyclone’s 300 kilometre an hour winds destroyed hundreds of homes in the coastal communities of Mission Beach, Tully and Cardwell.

The damage to public infrastructure, including roads and schools, is expected to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars and add to the $5.6 billion damage bill from last month’s floods.

Prime Minister
Julia Gillard
said the federal government was committed to the rebuilding task in Queensland, which will now encompass the cyclone-affected areas as well as communities hit in the floods.

It was too early to assess the ­damage costs from the cyclone, but Ms Gillard said the government was preparing to make further budget cuts to pay for the reconstruction.

“We will meet the damages bill from the federal budget. It will require cutbacks in other areas, there is no point in sugar-coating that," she said. “There will be people who aren’t very happy where the cutbacks are made, but we will rebuild from this cyclone and we will arrange the ­federal budget in order to do that."

The insurance bill is expected to be significant but it was unclear whether it would top the $540 million in claims from cyclone Larry.

“This is no doubt one of the worst places I have seen so far," Ms Bligh told The Australian Financial Review. “In the marina there are at least 70 boats that are either destroyed or damaged. The older parts of town are clearly worse off."

Mr Swan described the devastation in the small coastal town of 1200 people as a “war zone". “It’s like a bomb has gone off," he said.

Earlier, during a visit to Townsville, Ms Bligh said it was remarkable that there was not more damage to Queensland’s third largest city, which has a population of 184,000.

The federal and state governments yesterday extended natural disaster relief payments of $1000 per adult and $400 per child to residents in 19 local government areas.

Up to 4000 soldiers, navy ships and air force transport planes and helicopters moved into the damaged regions yesterday. About 500 emergency volunteers from around the country are also expected to be flown into the region to help with the clean-up.

The 11,000 residents who filled evacuation centres in Cairns and Townsville attempted to return home yesterday, with qtraffic jams on the Bruce Highway, which was also affected by storm surges after the cyclone.

While the state prepared on Wednesday night for the worst cyclone to hit the mainland since 1918, more serious damage was avoided as the cyclone hit the coast between the two biggest cities – Cairns and Townsville.

The state’s main coal ports, including Abbot Point coal terminal near Bowen and Mackay and Hay Point further south, survived infrastructure damage and are expected to ­reopen today.

But banana growers, particularly in Tully and Innisfail, have lost about three-quarters of their crop, worth $350 million.

The region’s sugar cane crop, which is about 30 per cent of Australia’s total production, has also been flattened, with damage to crops and infrastructure expected to top $500 million.

Australian Banana Growers Council chairman Cameron MacKay said there would be a major interruption to the banana supply over the next four months, with about 75 per cent of the crop wiped out.

“The majority of Australian bananas are grown in tropical north Queensland, so this is a fairly significant disaster for our industry," Mr MacKay said.

Other tropical crops, such as mangoes, lychees, paypaya and limes, were also expected to be hit.

The state’s tourism sector also took a battering from cyclone Yasi.

While the main airlines resumed flights to Cairns and Townsville yesterday, attempts to lure back visitors to tourist attractions in the region will be more difficult.

Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind admitted that there had already been cancellations.

Tourism operators in the region, which are still recovering from the ­global financial crisis, also feared the two recent natural disasters would deter future visitors.

Hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged when cyclone Yasi crossed the coast.

Queensland Emergency Services Minister
Neil Roberts
said aerial teams had returned an initial report of 284 damaged homes in the region – 210 in Cardwell, 22 at Mission Beach and 52 at Tully Heads.

There were also problems with water supply in Townsville and on Magnetic Island.

Compared with the harder-hit towns, Cairns and the tourist centre of Port Douglas ­suffered only minor damage. While cyclone Yasi did not pass over heavily populated centres, it caused havoc for communities as far as 500 kilometres inland.

Like most cyclones, it lost a lot of its size and intensity once on the mainland and was quickly downgraded to category two by 7am. But there were concerns about heavy rain and flash flooding as far inland as Mount Isa, 900 kilometres from the coast.

Mining giant Xstrata evacuated most of its staff from operations at Mount Isa and Cloncurry to prepare for the high winds from the cyclone, which was later further downgraded to category one.

Queensland coal producers, which are still recovering from last month’s floods, avoided the worst of cyclone Yasi.

North Queensland Bulk Terminals deputy chief executive Jeff Stewart-Harris said Abbot Point coal terminal, just north of Cairns, which was hit by 115 kilometre an hour winds, was spared any structural damage.

But it was still waiting for power to be reconnected yesterday.

“It was nice to wake up and see there wasn’t major damage done, There’s a bit of cosmetic damage but in the scale of a $1 billion project they are pretty minor," Mr Stewart-Harris said. “Had the cyclone been on its original path south of Townsville I think we would have been more concerned."

The state’s other big ports at Mackay, Hay Point and the privately owned Dalrymple Bay, which endured 80 kilometre an hour winds, are expected to start receiving coal ships overnight, with coal trains starting today.

In an ominous warning for Queensland, the federal government’s top climate adviser,
Ross Garnaut
, warned that more extreme cyclones were likely in the future due to climate change.